"[Food] has been donated from Coles, from people in the street. People have walked in with food, milk, meat, everything.

"We've had chefs come in from all over the place, who've brought food cooked - curries, spaghetti - it's marvellous. Yesterday we fed 120 all day, and today we're going to feed more."

The publican of the Lansdowne Hotel, Jimmy Gaudry, has great admiration for the volunteer firefighters, who are working around the clock, some a long way from home.

"We've had a lot that's come from Mildura. I think there was probably a dozen, 15 of them, that turned up a couple of days ago. They'd come in and just had a squash and just wanted to listen to the news and get ready. I think they started at 6.00pm at night."